[UPDATE] Photos by Charles Burns [November 2017]
Either 49°22' N 14°51' E or 50°02' N 15°03' E
US Commission No. CZCE000393
Radenin [Radeníně] is located in Bohemia, Tabor at 49÷22 14÷50, 13 km ESE of Tabor and 52 km NE of Ceske Budejovice. Cemetery: 700 meters NNE of the chateau. Present town population is under 1,000 with no Jews.
- Town: Obecni urad, 391 20 Radenin; tel. 0361/90152.
- Regional: Jewish Congregation: Ms. Jana Wolfova, Zidovska Nabozenska Obec v Praze, Maislova 18, 110 01 Praha 1; tel. 02/231-86-64 and Okresni Urad-Referat Kultury, Palackeho 350, 390 01 Tabor; tel. 0361/22646.
- Interested: Husitske Muzeum, namesti Mikulase z Husi 44, 390 01 Tabor; tel. 0361/22242 and Statni Zidovske Muzeum, Jachymova 3, 110 01 Praha 1; tel. 02/231-06-34.
Earliest known Jewish community was before 1723. 1930 Jewish population was 9. Jews moved to big towns after 1848; independent congregation disbanded after 1921. Birthplace of prominent Czechoslovak diplomat Gustav Winter (1899-1943). The landmarked Jewish cemetery originated before 1723 with last known Conservative or Progressive/Reform Jewish burial in 1940-42. Choustnik (German: Chaustnik), 4 km away, used site. The isolated rural slight slope has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all via a continuous masonry wall and non-locking gate. The pre- and post-WWII size of cemetery is 0.1403 ha.
100-500 stones date from 1741-20th century. The granite and sandstone flat shaped stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones, flat stones with carved relief decoration, double tombstones or multi-stone monuments have Hebrew, German and Czech inscriptions. The cemetery has no known mass graves but has a pre-burial house. Praha Jewish community owns site used as a cemetery. Adjacent properties are agricultural. Occasionally, private visitors and local residents stop. Vandalism occurred during World War II, occasionally 1945-1991. Local non-Jewish residents and individuals or groups of non-Jewish origin did restoration occasionally before 1970. There is no maintenance. Serious threat: vegetation. Moderate threat: uncontrolled access, weather erosion, pollution and vandalism. Slight threat: existing and proposed nearby development.
Ladislav Mertl, Mgr. of Geography, Kubankske namesti 1322/17, Praha 10-Vrsovice; tel. 02/743213 and Jiri Fiedler, z"l, Brickova 1916, 155 00 Praha 5; tel. 02/55-33-40 completed survey on August 1992. Documentation: Hugo Gold: Die Juden und Judengemeinden Bohemens (1934); Jan Herman: Jewish Cemeteries of Bohemia and Moravia (1980); and censuses of 1723, 1921, 1930, and 1991. The site was not visited. Inhabitants of former ghetto in 1987 were interviewed.
cemetery photos and village website in English with map and cemetery photos: "The beginnings of the village go back to the 13th century. The local countryside, situated at the edge of the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands, is remarkably varied. This consolidated community consists of 7 villages:Radenín, Terezín, Bítov, Kozmice, Nuzbely, Hroby and Lažany. The dominating features of the area are the castle Radenín ( today a children's home with a boarding school) and St. Margaret Church. The landscaped park, gardens and Jewish cemetery on a hill close to Radenín can also be of interest to visitors coming here. The business activity of tle village is represented by commercial enterprise which offers eleven services. In the village Hroby is the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and historical castle. The population at present is 448, the area 2691,69 ha, and the altitude is 503 m above sea-level. In Radenín there is a post office, a municipal office, a local shop and a library. In Radenín as well as Kozmice, new family houses for young people are being built."[February 2009]
photos of "Židovský hřbitov v Radeníně" and map and photos: "The small village Radenín lies about 14 km east of the town Tábor below the Choustníkcastle. The original fortress, which was a seat of the Czech chronicler Přibík Pulkava, was rebuilt into the Renaissance chateau around 1600. Renovated many times under the influence of various trends, the present appearance originates from the Pseudo-Renaissance reconstruction in 1845. The originally Gothic St. Margaret's Church was built in the 14th century. This single-aisled church was reconstructed in the second half of the 16th century and has a polygonal presbytery, tower and Baroque St. Barbara's Chapel from 1732. The Jewish minority lived in Radenín too - the synagogue, which was completely rebuilt for residential use, and the Jewish cemetery from the 18th century can be found in the village." Source [February 2009]
Epitaphs [July 2015]